* AcceptableEthnicTargets: All villains in the story are either German or Czech Caucasians (the most dangerous of all being, actually, a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything young blonde man]]), whereas the ethnic minorities are portrayed in a positive light (for instance, all Turks and Vietnamese are hard-working immigrants who have to put up with groundless German intolerance on a daily basis). One of the story arcs includes a [[ThoseWackyNazis neo-Nazi group]] that tries to set fire to the Turkish quarter in Hamburg... and [[PoliceAreUseless the police, fire brigades, and even emergency ambulances are nowhere to be found while that's taking place]]. That is, until [[TheCavalryArrivesLate everything's already wrapped up]].* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Johan. Is he truly [[CompleteMonster heartless?]] [[DarkAndTroubledPast Or is he just broken?]] [[TakeAThirdOption Or is he heartless]] [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil because he was broken?]]* BaseBreaker: Dieter. Is he a nice tag along kid or a BrattyHalfPint who is {{Anvilicious}} about being nice?* BrokenBase: The ending is considered to be divisive - or, at least, the final shot of the ending.* CompleteMonster: ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' is dedicated to exploring whether there is such a thing as pure evil, or if anybody, no matter how heinous, can be redeemed. The series's conclusion is that while anybody can be redeemed, it is the titular character Johan Liebert's refusal to seek redemption that makes him a monster. A {{sadist}}ic [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] and ManipulativeBastard since he [[EnfanteTerrible learned to walk and talk]], Johan is on a personal journey to become, in his own words, [[CardCarryingVillain as dark as possible]]. He is also trying to find out if there is anyone as evil as he is out there, or failing that, force the heroic [[BigGood Dr. Tenma]], and/or his own pacifistic [[CainAndAbel sister]], Nina Foertner, to [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred kill him in cold blood]]. In this way, he hopes to establish that even [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim the best people can become just like him]]. Along the way he [[WouldHurtAChild convinces children to jump from rooftops]], gets a recovering [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] drunk before throwing him off a building, and convinces various {{serial killer}}s to murder every foster family he has ever lived with, as part of his quest to become an {{unperson}}. Numerous {{Freudian Excuse}}s are proposed for Johan's behavior, yet each one is ultimately undermined, revealing that in the end, Johan simply is pure, unadulterated evil.* CrowningMomentOfFunny: There is an unintentionally hilarious moment when [[spoiler:Gustav gets hit by the police cruiser.]]* CrowningMusicOfAwesome:** Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" being played in Episode 23 when Roberto and Eva are at the bar.** "Medium Shot" with its jittery violin and clattering percussion (including the triangle!) is the one of the most delightfully creepy songs in the OST.* EarWorm: How much of an ear worm is the Ronette's "Be My Baby"? People have reported getting it stuck in their head from ''reading about it in the manga''.* EndingFatigue: 74 episodes. Shots sustained simply to reproduce the manga rather than narrative purpose. Repeatedly winding up suspense to yet another lack of climax. ''Monster'' in general is a series that likes to take its sweet time in doing things. In general, it loved to do this thing where it would basically make the main protagonist, Tenma, disappear for a little while, introduce a side character or small set of side characters, give them ADayInTheLimelight and sufficient CharacterDevelopment to get the audience to like or remember them to some extent, and then much later reintroduce Tenma to clean up whatever the new characters were doing. The epitome of this would be the Bayern arc, for introducing about six new characters that went on with their own problems for, in the manga, about 15-20 chapters before Tenma even shows back up, and even then, the main plot is largely disconnected from this. All-in-all, the characters this arc focused on really didn't impact the plot in any huge way but was largely still compelling enough to read through to when it would.* EnsembleDarkhorse: Grimmer, Lunge, and Martin to name a few.* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Franz Bonaparta's books deliberately contain plenty of these like, "Sometimes you're simply screwed no matter which choice you take."* GeniusBonus: Aside from the extra understanding gleaned by those with medical degrees, there's a bonus for film or animation students. Lipsky could be a puppeteer just because it's a part of his character, or because it's both creepy and sad...''or'' it could double as a ShoutOut to the Prague school of animation, which, based on when ''Monster'' is set, would have still been going strong during Lipsky's childhood. This particular localized trend produced a lot of work based on puppetry and dark fairy tales, both elements which compliment ''Monster'' nicely. [[CaptainObvious And of course, Lipsky's first met in Prague.]]* HilariousInHindsight: When Grimmer first meets Tenma, they hold a short conversation. Grimmer's first line starts with "Thanks." The second starts with "Thanks again." And now Creator/PatrickSeitz, who voiced Grimmer, [[Anime/TigerAndBunny is voicing Sky High,]] [[CatchPhrase and the lines sound kind of familiar.]]* HoYay: Roberto describes Johan to Dr. Reichwein as if he were having an affair with the man. Also doubles as NoYay for a [[{{Squick}} lot of people]].* IronWoobie: Tenma.* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler:[[BestKnownForTheFanservice Johan's a cross-dresser.]]]]* JerkassWoobie: Eva.* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: Will Tenma actually confront the problems of his ThouShallNotKill code? Of course not, don't be ridiculous. [[spoiler: Possibly subverted by the finale, however. If Johan escaped to continue his rampage, it wouldn't do Tenma's idealism any good.]]* MagnificentBastard: Johan Liebert, the monster himself.* MainstreamObscurity: Despite its massive praise, this series isn't watched or read that often.* MindGameShip: Johan and Tenma. To a lesser extent, Johan and Nina.* MisaimedFandom: Most people appreciate Johan's [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bastardry]]. Others seem to ignore all that, and move on to a [[CompletelyMissingThePoint Roberto-like level of worship.]]* MoralEventHorizon:** Johan skips right past it in the first volume and keeps going from there.** One could even say that this series doesn't have one. People are redeemed (sometimes at [[RedemptionEqualsDeath a large cost]]) for crimes so heinous even death wouldn't be enough in most series. At the end, [[spoiler:even Johan is forgiven by his sister, who says "Even if we were the only two people left in the whole world, I would forgive you."]]** One of the main themes of the series is the question of whether or not the Horizon even exists: is there a point where a person is so far gone as to be truly irredeemable?*** In the end, the answer is a mixture of yes and no. No one, not even Johan is truly beyond redemption, but what makes Johan irredeemable is the fact that he doesn't ''want'' to be redeemed.*** Even this is ambiguous as Johan's lack of desire for redemption seems to stem from his belief that he is irredeemable. "Some things can never be amended."* NightmareFuel: The show, for the most part.* NightmareRetardant: Franz Bonaparta's books are supposed to be ominous, but honestly, they try ''way'' too hard. And the silly artwork doesn't help.* OneSceneWonder: Gustav Milch.* TheScrappy: Some characters, Eva for being a RichBitch to everyone for starters, [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap though she does get better]].* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Tenma is [[AnthropomorphicPersonification this trope on legs]]. Without the {{Aesop}}s he provides, this series would be far too grim to bear.* TearJerker: Many, but in particular [[spoiler:Grimmer]]'s death. Not to mention the poor guy with his baby in Ruhenheim [[spoiler: whose wife was killed and he's crying begging for a gun and revenge.]]* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler:Martin.]]* VillainSue: A downplayed yet played with example in regards to Johan Liebert. The action that really pushes the suspension of disbelief is Johanís poison candies, who smuggled them covertly at the age of five, secretly murdering the directors, AFTER he is recovering from his head injury. However, his other seemingly unbelievable acts, such as learning many foreign languages, researching his targets, managing a network of murderers in secret, and his charisma, might be justified by Kinderheim 511ís education, whose purpose is to turn youths into super soldiers. And with the case of Johan, [[GoneHorriblyRight they succeeded far too well.]] Johan, the embodiment of DissonantSerenity himself admits, that Kinderheim is a hellish place. In a world of a cast of snowflakes, Johan also fits the nearly angelically beautiful bishonen villain sue look, though it could be justified by genetics of being the twin brother of Anna. TropesAreNotBad, however, as this actually enhances his appearance as a terrifying and unnatural presence, and the in-universe fear of him seems plausible to the other characters (and readers). It is a downplayed example in that Johan does suffer a lot of setbacks, and ultimately [[spoiler: failed to tempt either Tenma or Nina into killing Johan]]. His defeat may seem like an asspull cop out, but is really more of a HoistByHisOwnPetard, as the kid he threatens to kill in the end is the [[spoiler: son of the drunkard who shoots Johan in the head, right before Johan could shoot the kid.]]* TheWoobie: Tenma, Grimmer, Nina, Dieter, and Wim are all excellent examples.

!! [[Film/{{Monster}} The Film]]:

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: For all the trouble in their relationship, Aileen and Selby ''do'' have some pretty cute moments together.* HollywoodHomely : ZigZagged. While the makeup, prosthetics, and dumpy wardrobe make Charlize Theron look much more "average" than she usually does, it's still hard to disguise the fact that it's Charlize Theron! In an interview on the DVD extras, she points out that Wuornos was not ugly, she was a beautiful woman who had had a very hard life. * HollywoodPudgy: While Theron gained 35 pounds to play the role, she's not that much bigger than average. Wuornos herself wasn't that [[http://murderpedia.org/female.W/images/wuornos_aileen/3/aileen-wuornos-28.jpg big]] either, just out of shape from being in prison. * JerkassWoobie: Aileen.* TearJerker: Several moments, but the last ten or fifteen minutes of the film especially qualify.